Electric-railway switch.



No. 632,980. Patented Sept. I2, I899.

. C. E. YOUNG.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY SWITCH.

' (Application filed May 12, 1898.) (N0 Modem "1! ucnms mans cu, moromnov. wnsmnmon. n. I;v

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES EaY-OUNG, OF AKRON, OHIO.

ELECTRIC-RAILWAY SWITCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 632,980, dated September 12, 1899.

Application filed Ma 12, 1898.

T0 aZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES E. YOUNG, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Akron, in the county of Summit and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric-Railway Switches, of which the following is a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to switch plates which are attached to overhead conductors upon which the trolley-wheel travels that conveys the electric energy to the mechanism that provides the motive power.

The main object of my invention is to so construct and arrange a switch-plate that the trolley-wheel which is in common use and provided with a grooved center and flanges of equal diameter on each side to retain it upon the wire against which it is pressed u pwardly while in its direct line of travel and is transferred or guided at turnouts and changes in the direction of the line of travel in its onward movement through said switchplate, and fnyimprovement provides means whereby the trolley can be diverted at turnouts, and 1 construct a switch-plate to cause a depression of the trolley-wheel that normally bears upon the conductor-wire at the central portion and is held thereto by its side flanges as it approaches the switch-plate, when one of its side flanges runs upon a raised track extending through the middle portion of the switch-plate and formed integral therewith, said raised portion presses the wheel down from direct contact with the conductor, and the outer flange of the trolleywheel that moves forward by the ordinary momentum of the car will pass over the switch-plate as it is guided solely by the downwardly-projecting side flange of the plate,and as it runs otli this raised portion the grooved flange again assumes its place upon the wire to which it is safely and securely guided, thereby preventing any possible derailment of the trolley. It will be seen that the plate is provided with the switch of the swing-gate pattern that admits the travel and entry of the trolley-wheel from either direction and is automatic in its adjustment of the swinggate,as it passes freely over the switch guided Serial No. 680,461. (No model.:

by the outer flange of the wheel that runs upon the raised portion of the plate.

In the drawings, Figure l is aplan view of my switch-plate. Fig. 2 is a side elevation in section. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section on line 3 3 of Fig. 1; Fig. 4, a cross-section of the trolley-wheel in its normal position upon the conductor-wire as it enters or leaves the switch at 2 2 of Fig. 1.

A represents the trolley switch-plate.

A is the switch-flange.

B is the conductor-wire; O, the raised portion within the flange; D, the trolley-wheel; D, its flange; E, the switch-tongue; e, its pivot; 6, its pressure-spring that retains it to its normal position when closed and admits of its opening automatically as the trolley-wheel is brought in contact with it from the angular switch-frame.

In the use of my improvement as the trolley-wheel enters between the switch-flanges of the guideway of the plate with the parts in position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, its outer flange rolls over the raised portion 0 between the flanges, which presses it down, and it is guided through the passage-way by the switch-flange, A, and as the trolley runs off the raised portion of the plate at the other end its flanges again run upon the conductor of the main line.

Among the important advantages obtained in the use of my device no care or attention is required in approaching theswitch, as the trolley-wheel in general use is provided with flanges of equal diameter and readily adjusts itself to the guiding-flanges and being relieved of engagement with the trolley-wire moves through the entire length of the switchplate upon the raised portion to the proper wire on the other side without any' liability of entanglement or displacement.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A trolley -wire switch comprising a switch-plate having guide-flanges for directing the movement of the trolley-wheel, anda raised track sloping from the ends of the plate toward the center thereof and adapted to depress the trolley-wheel when striking it, a main trolley-wire terminal at one end of the switch-plate, a plurality of converging branch trolley-wire terminals at the other end of said plate, and a switch-tongue normally connecting the main terminal through one of the branch terminals.

2. A trolley wire switch comprising a switch-plate having guide-flanges for directing the movement of the trolley- Wheel, a main trolley-Wire terminal entering one end of the switch, branch terminals entering the other end of the switch, and a raised track sloping from the ends of the plate toward the center thereof and disposed at one end in the space between the branch terminals and between one of them and the adjacent guidefiange on the plate, and at the other end between the main terminal and the same guidefiange, whereby only one flange of the trolley-wheel rides on said track when passing through the switch.

3. A trolleywire switch comprising a -flange on the plate, and at the other end between the main terminal and the same guideflange, whereby only one flange of the trolleywheel rides on said track when passing through the switch. v

CHARLES E. YOUNG. \Vitnesses:

I. O. GIBBoNs, ADA C. GROVE. 

